Folding commode chair for hospital use



March 30, 1965 F. J. LOWTHERS ETAL 3,175,227

FOLDING COMMODE CHAIR FOR HOSPITAL USE Filed Dec. 51, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 91 ml .5 Lay-flew Edward (I. imar' .zl hr; by 61/412 of? v ,wzmrey March 30, 1965 Filed Dec. 31. 1962 F. J. LOWTHERS ETAL 3,175,227

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United States Patent 3,175,227 FOLDING COMMODE (SHARK F01: HOSPITAL USE Frank J. Lowthers, Hyde Park, and Edward J. Stoner,

North Quincy, Mass. assignors to Guard-Well Corporation, Quiney, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Dec. 31, 1962, Ser. No. 24%,449 Claims. (Cl. 4-112) This invention relates to a folding commode chair for hospital use. More particularly it relates to a collapsible structure including a toilet seat which is adapted to coop erate with a hospital bed of the type wherein the back section of the bed may be raised to an elevated position which structure is adapted when raised to receive a bed pan.

The use of a conventional bedpan in a hospital or sickroom has always been a source of difficulty and embarrassment. The mere act of helping a patient onto or off of a bedpan is always difiicult, especially when that patient is unable to assist in the procedure.

It is an object of this invention to provide a collapsible commode type chair to replace the conventional bedpan.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a collapsible chair structure onto which the patient may roll when the structure is in its flat or collapsed position, and wherein the patient is raised to a sitting or semi-sitting position on the chair merely by the raising of the back portion of the bed.

These and other advantages of the invention will be ascertained from the following description by reference to the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side perspective of the chair structure in its fully raised position;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a hospital bed in its fiat position with the chair structure in place;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of a hospital bed with the chair structure in place in back of the bed in its raised position.

The collapsible chair structure comprises a back section 11 of substantial length, a base section 12, a seat section 13 and a front section 14. In a typical structure 10 the base section 12 is a rectangle of wood or other suitable material approximately inches wide and 14 /2 inches long, although of course these dimensions may vary considerably depending upon the size desired for the structure. Back 11 is a substantially rectangular piece of similar material of a width equal to that of base 12 (15 inches in the preferred embodiment) and a length sulficient to provide a comfortable back support for the patient when the structure is in its raised position. We have found that a 15 inch length is suitable. The upper end of back section 11 may be provided with rounded corners as shown and may, if desired, be provided with a hole 15 so that the structure may hang on a hook in a closet or the like when not in use.

Seat structure 13 is the same width as the base (about 15 inches in the preferred embodiment) and about one inch longer, or in the preferred embodiment about 15 /2 inches. The seat section is provided with an oval opening 16 which in the preferred embodiment is about 9% inch long and about 8 inches at its greatest width. The front of opening 16 is about 2 /2 inches behind the front of seat section 13.

Front section 14 is a rectangle with its major dimension about equal to the width of the base 12 or about 15 inches, and its minor dimension in the preferred embodiment about 4 inches. If wood is used as the material for the construction of the structure we prefer that base 12 be about /8 inch thick, seat 13 about inch thick and both back 11 and front 14 about /2 inch thick. These thicknesses may vary depending upon the particular material use. For example when the parts are to be made 3,175,227 Fatented Mar. 36, 1265 of a strong thermoplastic material, such as a high impact polystyrene, the thickness of the respective parts could be reduced substantially. In any case we prefer to round the exposed edges of the respective parts.

The structure 10 is assembled by means of hinge elements located between the respective parts. We prefer to use as the hinge element a continuous hinge that extends substantially the full width of structure it] and which has a flat back when opened. One such hinge 17 is mounted on the top of the rearward end of base 12 and on the forward side of back 11 at the bottom thereof in such manner that when back 11 is raised to a position normal to base 12 the projection of the forward side of back 11 passes about inch beyond the end of base 12, and the projection of the top surface of base 12 passes about /s inch below the bottom end of back 11.

A second such hinge 18 is mounted on the forward side of back 11 and at the bottom of the rear end of seat 13 in such manner that the bottom surface of seat 13 is 4 /8 inches in the preferred embodiment above the top of base 12, and there is about inch clearance between the forward side of back 11 and the rear edge of seat 13 when back 11 is normal to base 12.

A third such hinge 19 is mounted between the top surface of base 12 near its forward end and the back side of bottom edge of front piece is in such manner that the forward edge of front piece 14- is recessed about inch in the preferred embodiment from the front edge of base 12 and the bottom edge of front piece 14 is about inch above the top surface of base 12 when back 11 is normal to base 12. In other words, in the preferred embodiment the back surface of front piece 14 is about 14 inches ahead of the front surface of back 11 when back 11 is in its raised position normal to base 12.

A fourth such hinge 2th is mounted between the forward surface of front piece 14 at its upper edge and the bottom surface of seat 13 near its forward edge. It will be noted that hinge 20 is mounted on the opposite surface of front piece 14 from hinge 19. Hinge 20 is so mounted that when back 11 is normal to base 12 front piece 14- is also normal to base 12 and the clearance between the top of base 12 and the bottom of seat 13 is in the preferred embodiment 4% inches. It will be remembered that seat 13 as specified is slightly longer than base 12. The reason for this is to provide a mounting position for hinge 20. Since the top of front piece 14 abuts against the bottom surface of seat 13 and the bottom edge of front piece 14 abuts against the top surface of base 12 in the event that back 11 slips forward from a position normal to base 12 this arrangement of the hinges prevents the chair from collapsing in a forward direction.

Preferably means are provided as indicated at 21-21 to support a bedpan-like container on the underside of seat 13. In the particular embodiment shown the means 21-21 each consist of a slide adapted to receive in sliding engagement the rim of an appropriate rectangular pan indicated at 30 and adapted to be fastened to the bottom of the seat 13. In this way the pan is kept in close contact with the bottom of the seat and may be slid in and out of position from the side readily. The bottom surface of base 12 may be provided with serrations as shown at 22 or other appropriate means to increase the gripping action between the chair and the bed on which it is placed.

FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawing show the cooperation between the collapsible chair structure 113 and a typical hospital bed 24. Bed 24 is represented by mattress 25 and frame 25 and a spring which as is common with hospital beds consists of head or back section 27, a middle portion 28 and a foot section 29. As indicated by the arrow in FIG. 3, the head section 27 may be raised and lowered by appropriate mechanism not shown.

In using the device the patient is rolled to one side of the bed and the collapsed chair structure it as shown in FIG. 2 is placed on bed 24 in such manner that back 11 extends toward the head of bed 24 and the junction between back 11 and base 12 corresponds generally with the bend line in mattress 25) between the head section and the middle portion. Optionally collapsed chair Iii may be strapped to bed 24 by means of a strap 23 which passes around mattress 25 in frame 24 and over base 12 of chair 10. When collapsed chair 10 is properly positioned the patient is rolled onto chair 10 with his buttocks positioned on opening 16.

As soon as the patient is in position the back of bed 24 is raised as indicated in FIG. 3. This raises back portion 11 of chair It) and hence seat portion 131. As soon as there is sufficient clearance between the bottom of seat 13 and the top of base 12 the pan 30 may be inserted into position. The back section of bed 24 may continue to be elevated until the patient is in a comfortable position. To remove the device pan 30 is removed and the back of bed 24 is returned to its original horizontal position collapsing the chair. The patient is then rolled off of the chair and the chair removed from the bed.

The principal advantage of the collapsible chair of the present invention is that it utilizes the existing back elevating mechanism of the bed as the means of lifting the patient onto the bedpan. A further advantage is that the body of the patient is fully supported at all times. The patient need make no motion except to roll to the side of the bed in much the same manner as when the bed linen is changed. Thus the collapsible chair may be used conveniently with any patient except one who is completely immobile.

Throughout the specification certain dimensions have been given. To a large extent these specific dimensions are a matter of choice, they may be varied widely as desired. It is to be noted, however, that the preferred embodiment, a structure preferred because of its inherent strength, simplicity and stability, and because of the absence of any surfaces or joints that might harm the patient during the erection or collapse of the device, is not a parallelogram. Therefore allowance must be made in the dimensions as noted to allow the structure to be erected and collapsed.

We claim:

1. A folding commode chair for use with a hospital bed of the type in which. the head portion may be raised at an angle relative to the remainder of the bed which comprises a seat portion adapted to support a patient, a base portion adapted to rest against a bed, substantiaily parallel connecting means rotatably connected to said seat portion and to said base portion, said connecting means adapted to support said seat portion on said base portion and means adapted to cooperate with the head portion of said bed for rotating said connecting means between a substantially horizontal position and a substantially vertical position whereby the separation between the seat and the base may be varied, said chair being adapted to be inserted between a patient and a bed in a substantially fiat position and thereafter to be raised to some elevated position by raising the head portion of said bed.

2. A folding commode chair as claimed in claim 1 wherein the underside of the seat portion is provided with means for removably holding a pan.

3. A folding commode chair for use with a hospital bed of the type in which the head portion may be raised at an angle relative to the remainder of the bed which comprises a back portion adapted to rest against the head portion of the bed, a base portion hingedly connected to said back portion and adapted to rest against the bed positioned adjacent said head portion, a seat portion hingedly connected to said back portion and a front portion hingedly connected both to said seat portion and to said base portion at a position remote from said back portion whereby when the back portion of said bed is raised to an elevated position the seat portion of said chair is raised to a position substantially parallel to and remote from said base.

4. A folding commode chair as claimed in claim 3 wherein the underside of the seat portion is provided with means for removably holding a pan.

5. A folding commode chair as claimed in claim 3 wherein the side of the base adapted to rest against the bed is provided with means including parallel serrations to prevent slippage.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,086,584 2/14 Bown 4-112 1,229,240 6/17 Day 41 12 2,713,688 7/55 Johnson 4112 FOREIGN PATENTS 291,144 4/ 16 Germany.

EDWARD V. BENHAM, Primary Examiner.

F. H. BRONAUGH, Examiner. 

1. A FOLDING COMMODE CHAIR FOR USE WITH A HOSPITAL BED OF THE TYPE IN WHICH THE HEAD PORTION MAY BE RAISED AT AN ANGLE RELATIVE TO THE REMAINER OF THE BED WHICH COMPRISES A SEAT PORTION ADAPTED TO SUPPORT A PATIENT, A BASE PORTION ADAPTED TO REST AGAINST A BED, SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL CONNECTING MEANS ROTATABLY CONNECTED TO SAID SEAT PORTION AND TO SAID BASE PORTION, SAID CONNECTING MEANS ADAPTED TO SUPPORT SAID SEAT PORTION ON SAID BASE PORTION AND MEANS ADAPTED TO COOPERATE WITH THE HEAD PORTION OF SAID BED FOR ROTATING SAID CONNECTING MEANS BETWEEN A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL POSITION AND A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL POSITION WHEREBY THE SEPARATION BETWEEN THE SEAT AND THE BASE MAY BE VARIED, SAID CHAIR BEING ADAPTED TO BE INSERTED BETWEEN A PATIENT AND A BED IN A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT POSITION AND THEREAFTER TO BE RAISED TO SOME ELEVATED POSITION BY RAISING THE HEAD PORTION OF SAID BED. 